Occupied Jerusalem – Wikipedia archives are witnessing a fierce battle among Israelis themselves over the narratives, opinions, and internal positions related to the aggression on the Gaza Strip following the battle "Al-Aqsa Flood" on October 7, 2023.
The war of narratives being fought in "Wikipedia" reflects the extent of internal divisions and the deep rift in Israeli society, which has been cemented due to political, social, sectarian, religious, and ideological considerations. This aims to shape a narrative that could largely determine the features of the story for what has been called the day after the war.
These considerations have emerged among the Israeli political and religious camps, through differing views on the failure to prevent the surprise attack by Palestinian resistance factions, the course of the war, its connections to the issue of prisoners held by the resistance, and the performance of political and military leaders, in attempts to redirect responsibility for the failure to other directions and personalities.
The Narrative War
An investigation by the Hebrew electronic site "Shomrim" highlighted the war that consists of Israelis – for political and ideological reasons – changing and deleting contents from Wikipedia's archives related to their role in the combat events of October 7 and the responsibility for the intelligence failure.
The conflict did not stop with content removal, but expanded to misinformation and distortion, spreading false information about certain leaders and figures, and even deleting information deemed damaging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Noticed were deletions of information about the role of former security leaders in countering the surprise attack on "Gaza Envelope" settlements, such as actions taken by retired Major General Yair Golan, who had been the Deputy Chief of Staff and was among the first to reach the envelope area that day.
In a shift reflecting internal disagreements among Israelis regarding the conscription law and the imposition of military service on Ultra-Orthodox Jews "Haredim," the term "Brothers in Arms" was removed, and information related to civilian mobilization and volunteering to support reserve forces in the war was deleted. Meanwhile, attempts to discredit the former Chief of Staff and current minister Benny Gantz, as well as other senior current and former security officials, were repeated.
Rewriting History
Investigative journalist Milan Cherny says, "Many Wikipedia editors have noticed in recent weeks an attempt to delete and erase actions carried out by retired General Golan on the day of the attack, as he headed to the Nova concert venue after receiving distress calls from residents to assist them."
However, Wikipedia users "requested that this be removed from the historical record," Cherny adds, claiming that Golan's actions – a Knesset member of the Meretz party – were not exceptional, and publishing such details about a reserve officer expected to perform such duties is considered inconsequential.
Cherny explained that some justified the removal of Golan's actions and editing information about his role in the rescue operations because "his actions were used for political propaganda, and their inclusion in the electronic encyclopedia was made for non-encyclopedic and valueless considerations."
The site's report showed similar attempts to selectively rewrite history in Wikipedia's entry regarding the war on Gaza, which the Israeli army named "Operation Iron Sword."
According to the website, users who accessed the encyclopedia through fake accounts tried deleting information indicating the contribution of the "Brothers in Arms" movement to the war effort, including civil mobilization and emergency operation rooms established by the movement, justifying it by claiming their contribution and activity in assisting settlers was negligible compared to other bodies.
As part of the struggle, Cherny says, "Activist users accused the movement's activists of threatening to refuse military service in the reserve forces," as part of protests in Israel against judicial system amendments initiated by Netanyahu's government.
Negative Information
Regarding the electronic content in the encyclopedia concerning Minister and wartime council member Benny Gantz and his military service when he was the Chief of Staff in 2015, it was subjected to attempts at being rewritten with additional negative details.
The journalist indicates this happens specifically during times when the slogan "Together we will triumph" is promoted, emphasizing that "We don't delve into politics during war."
According to the report, one user attempted to add information and claims that Gantz delayed a military infantry operation in the Gaza Strip in 2015, to avoid harming Palestinian civilians' lives, even at the risk to the Golani Brigade soldiers, per the user's assertion.
Furthermore, another user claimed that "during Operation Protective Edge (the Israeli name for the operation) in 2014 when Gantz was the Chief of Staff, he presented a false assessment to the government led by Netanyahu then, in an attempt to prevent the occupation of Gaza" and the user added that "Gantz is responsible for the situation in Gaza that led to the events of October 7."
Protecting Netanyahu
The report's author notes that "Changes are not often made to Wikipedia pages that deal with a historical event from three decades ago," but after Netanyahu compared the number of Jewish fatalities on October 7 with "Oslo victims," users suddenly began to assert that "Oslo Accords" were the cause of the failures leading up to what they call "Black Saturday" on October 7.
The report documented prominent activity attributed to a user named "Jacob," especially when it comes to attributing responsibility for the events of October 7 to figures in the security establishment and not Netanyahu. Notably, "Jacob" was an active editor in Hebrew Wikipedia for several years.
The report detailed that "Jacob" recently edited and reshaped information described as "offensive and distorted" concerning the Head of the General Security Service "Shabak" Ronen Bar, the Head of Military Intelligence "Aman" Aharon Haliva, former Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon, and also made changes to content related to officers who participated in the October War of 1973.
Cherny mentions, "For Jacob, it was important to note in their information that they supported the plan of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to disengage from the Gaza Strip in 2005," but at the same time, he avoided criticizing Netanyahu and his government, opposing amendments that would hold them responsible for failing to prevent "Al-Aqsa Flood" events.
